Photo: Getty Picture Alliance
A Wellington medical company is researching a combined flu and Covid-19 vaccine.
P3 Research is looking for people aged between 50 and 80 years old to take part in the clinical trial, which is investigating whether a single vaccine can effectively prevent both illnesses.
The company conducts research on behalf of a range of pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and AstraZeneca - two major Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers.
Covid-19 and influenza were among the more common viruses leading to severe illness and hospitalisation in older adults, P3 Research said, and currently individual vaccinations provided the best protection against each disease.
As well as the age requirement, it was looking for participants who were in good health, and were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 (with or without the booster).
They must not have had a Covid-19 infection in the last two months.
The study would require willing participants to receive a vaccination and then attend follow-up appointments for six months.
RNZ understands the trial may involve the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine, but the company declined to confirm this, saying "We do not have an answer to your question at this time".
An immunologist from the University of Auckland, Anna Brooks, said the phase two trial would be looking at how safe and efficient the potential vaccine was, including any side effects.
"But also the key aspect of a vaccine is to track the immune response, so blood samples will be taken and they'll be comparing immune responses to this particular vaccine versus a standard influenza vaccine or a standard Covid-19 vaccine."
Like the individual vaccines currently available for both illnesses, the new vaccine would aim to reduce severe illness and hospitalisation, rather than stopping infection entirely.
However, Dr Brooks said it would still be years in the making, with the participant recruitment potentially taking a whole year.
"They may be going right till the end of 2023," she said.
"When you have a look internationally at what's going on, people are expecting that those types of vaccines may not roll out for a few years, so it's a space to watch, it'll be interesting to see the results."
It was also unclear whether the first approved combined vaccine would be the most effective, she said, as both the virus, and vaccine technology were changing rapidly. However, she said there were many precedents for combined vaccines, with this one likely to increase uptake of both flu and Covid vaccinations at once.
Meanwhile, the health authority, Te Whatu Ora, said it was too early to know how a potential combined vaccine would be rolled out.
Trials of the vaccine were still at a very early stage, it said in a statement.
All clinical trials require ethics approval and must be approved by the Director General of Health, it said.
The agency said it was continually monitoring the development of new vaccines, and strongly encouraged people to keep up to date with vaccinations currently available in the meantime.
